Around 39,000 children aged 12 to 15-years-old have received their first COVID vaccine dose in the past few days.
On Newstalk Breakfast this morning, the HSE Vaccination Programme lead Damien McCallion said 89,000 children have been registered since the portal opened last Thursday.
He said 35,000 have received their first dose at HSE vaccine centres and a further 4,000 got the jab at GPs and pharmacies.
Mr McCallion said 81% of eligible people in Ireland are now fully vaccinated and 90% are partially vaccinated.
He said vaccine appointments are now readily available to anyone who wants one.
“The numbers over the weekend have been really good,” he said. “The numbers registered.
“We are getting to people very quickly as well because we are at a stage in the programme where we have ample supply and also, we have a lot of the other age groups done so, as people register, they are getting appointments pretty quickly.
“Many people will have got them in less than 24 hours for example so that is another advantage for people at this point in time.
“We would encourage people, read the info on HSE.ie look at the benefits look at the risks and if you are still concerned, talk to your healthcare professional who can advise and answer some of the concerns people may have.”
12 to 15-years-olds
HE said the HSE is very happy with the initial response from the 12 to 15 age group.
“It is still very early for the age group,” he said. “What we typically find in any age group when we open it up is that it takes a number of weeks to go through the numbers to get a real sense of what uptake will be like.”
September
He said the majority of the cohort who are put forward for the jab should be fully vaccinated by the end of September.
“Typically, what we see is when we open it up, it is a two to three-week window when the majority of people will have registered,” he said.
“Hence their second does will be within a three to four-week window from then.
“So yes, in terms of their second dose being administered and then the protection period you are into that sort of end of September period.”
He said around 8,000 to 10,000 people from all age cohorts are still registering for vaccination every day.
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